According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a person wishing to change gender doesn’t require a gender recognition certificate. The equality watchdog opposes the UK government’s controversial consultation under the Gender Recognition Act. The GRA allows Trans people to change their legal gender on birth certificates.

For transgender, having their gender legally recognised is critical to be able to live freely, authentically and openly. The law dates back to 2004 and, while it was ground-breaking at the time, is now dated and hasn’t kept pace with the lived experiences of Trans people and the ways in which their human rights are best protected. Transphobia and prejudice in media coverage have contributed to the UK slipping from third to fourth in the European LGBTI rights rankings in a year. So, it’s definitely time for change.

Trans Rights are Human rights (racolb legal)

The current process by which Trans people have their gender legally recognised is dehumanising, long and costly. There are several systematic layers with the current process. It requires a psychiatric diagnosis of gender dysphoria, enforcing the idea that being Trans means being psychologically ill – an attitude reminiscent of times when being homosexual was considered an illness that could be ‘cured’.

Woman’s Place UK believes a gap of one to two years before applying for, and obtaining, a certificate is essential, as it would “protect and support the applicant in making the right decision for themselves and for society in general and also enables the applicant to be confident in their final decision”. Legal gender recognition should not be contingent on psychiatric assessment, surgical, hormonal or other medical treatment. Requiring applicants to submit to a psychiatric procedure or other medical treatments not only places unnecessary barriers in the way of obtaining legal recognition of their gender; it also forces applicants to choose between their human rights: the rights to the highest attainable standard of health and to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to private life and recognition before the law. 

Human rights (WORLD JUSTICE PROJECT)

There was a debate conducted between the transgender campaigners and feminist groups who fear its impact on women-only services and spaces. Their motive is to make the act easier for a person to self-identify the gender. David Isaac, who chairs the commission, appealed for “all voices to be heard”, an acknowledgment of concerns that the debate was being hushed among claims of threats and harassment. The commission calls that the process is designed in a way to ensure that applicants fully understand the legal, social and personal implications of a legal change in status.

According to Stonewall, under the current act, Trans people “have to go through a series of intrusive medical assessments and long, demeaning interviews with psychiatrists in order to ‘prove’ their gender identity”. Hence, the commission supports the process for obtaining a certificate and argues that the panel should be replaced with a face-to-face meeting with a suitably qualified person, such as a registrar rather than cruel medical works. It would be the registrar’s job to ensure that the applicant fully understood the legal, social and personal consequences of their actions.

“Rights for Trans people must now be advanced, and in a way that allows the views of people with different perspectives to be heard with due consideration. This has always been the case when the rights of protected groups are being debated,” Isaac said. Here, freedom of speech plays a vital role and moving forward together is something one must be obliged to think of.